Norfolk County Council announce Council Tax rise of 2.99 per cent

Residents across Norfolk will see their Council Tax rise by 2.99 this spring.

The rise was announced by Norfolk County Council (NCC) on Monday, to balance the books following on from the pandemic.

It comes just a month after Diss Town Council (DTC) announced that they too would be raising their council tax by 2.5 per cent.

NCC also agreed an increase in the 2022/23 net budget by £25 million compared to this year – taking it to £464.325 million.

The 2.99 per cent rise will come into effect this April, but NCC were keen to remind people that it was short of the possible 3.99 per cent rise that had been considered by councillors.

Cabinet member for finance, Councillor Andrew Jamieson, insisted that NCC would take further measures to keep spending down and help bridge a predicted £60 million budget gap predicted for 2023/24.

He said: “We are tightening the Council’s belt, instead of raising Council Tax even higher, because we know residents face a rapid rise to the cost of living.

"I’m determined to save money by making the council even more efficient and effective.

"We will also continue to lobby the Government for our fair share of funding, whether it be in recognising the challenges of being a large, rural, and ageing population, or in funding health and social care.”

The 2022-23 budget has promised significant investment, while addressing continuing severe pressure on services. These include £10.465 million in savings on adult social care, £12.088 million on children's services and £3.496 million on community and environmental services.

Last month, taxpayers in Diss were told they would pay an extra 2.5 per cent towards the town council for the coming financial year.

Diss Town Council – whose share makes up around 10 per cent of the Council Tax bill – announced the increase for 2022/23, also as the result of mounting pressures on public facilities following the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, a council spokeswoman said: “The increase will allow the council to meet its own increasing liabilities, where suppliers have increased their costs, while remaining committed to the projects and services in a financially responsible manner.

“This minimal increase has still been achieved at a time when budgets in all sectors have been stretched and efforts are still being made to limit the impact of coronavirus."